Simplifying Your Finances

Happy Friday, Friends! 

This week has been a mad rush of packing for me since I’m moving to a new place next week (hello, central air!) 🎉

Between working two jobs, packing, and modifying my life to include two wild dogs, things have been a little crazy.

Thankfully, last week Misti gave us some helpful tips to reflect & simplify our lives. 

It was the permission I needed to pare down on the excess. 

When most days feel like this…

…we need to choose simplicity and prioritize ourselves.

For me, this means simplifying my finances.

Between multiple checking accounts, credit cards galore, and subscriptions, things can get overwhelming! 

It had me asking:

Where can I cut back or eliminate for a more streamlined financial experience? What adjustments can I make to prioritize simplicity? 

Have you been through this process too? Let us know by replying to this email or tag @frugalfriendspodcast on Instagram sharing how you’ve simplified your finances! 

Steps to Simplify Our Expenses & Accounts ✍🏻

Here’s a few things we recommend when on this journey towards simplification!

💸 Expenses: Look at everything that costs you money: bills, subscriptions, activities; both discretionary and fixed. 

• Step one: Toss those calendars out and put your bills on autopay! 🧾

  • Utilizing autopay relieves the mental burden of missing a payment

• Step two: Do a 90-day transaction inventory 📃

  • Review your subscriptions & excess spending to slim down your budget. Bonus points: Negotiating subscriptions was April’s big money move! Two birds, one stone.

• Step three: Consolidate 💳

  • Is it possible to consolidate your debt into one monthly payment? Consider this alternative for a lower interest rate & the simplicity of not having to make multiple payments monthly

📂 Physical Clutter: Tally up how many credit cards, debit cards, checking, and savings accounts you have. We’ve seen wallets STACKED with plastic (no shade), and we think it’s time to try a different way.

Those cards may represent a bunch of checking accounts that were opened or credit cards applied for because there was a 1x promotional offer. The trouble is, most of us do not have robust systems of tracking income and expenses.

This makes it difficult to know which transaction is on what card, when the due dates are for each payment, and don’t get us started on incorrect charges! Simplifying the way we spend can be equally as powerful as simplifying what we’re spending on.

• Action step: Declutter your wallet and count your accounts! 

📱 Digital Clutter: How much digital space is your bank statement taking up? Do you have a hard time tracking transactions because there’s so many? Would fewer make it easier? We aren’t advocating less for the sake of less. We’re advocating for shedding and refining until you find a spot that feels good and manageable. 

• Action step: Simplify your online subscriptions and bank accounts by closing or canceling anything not needed/ unused.

The simple fact is: the fewer transactions you make, the simpler your bank statement is.

The less we have to worry about personal finance is the more time we spend on what truly matters to us.

Cheers,
Kim

⭐️⭐️ P.S. Want to share all this goodness with your friends AND earn cool Frugal Friends merch?

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